The Blue Dress Shirt
by beaglelover719
Summary: JJ and Emily literally run into each other returning to their room and discover each is hiding a secret. AU JJ/Hotch and Emily/Derek.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**A/N – I should be working on PRM but it's giving me fits so I started this. Hope you like it. I'm not sure which episode I was watching the other day but I really think they should always dress Hotch in blue. Yum.**

**The Blue Dress Shirt**

"Ssshhh!" Emily hissed, "My God, you're going to wake up the entire hotel!"

"I'll be quiet when you get back here and give me a kiss goodbye." Derek Morgan leaned out of his open room with just a sheet wrapped around his waist.

Emily snorted. "If I come back over there the only thing you'll do is pull me back into your room and we'll start this process all over again."

Derek chuckled and flashed a wide grin. "You got me. You are pretty astute, Princess." He gave her a deceptively lazy grin. "What if I promised?"

Emily raised a finely shaped brow and parroted what he said earlier in the evening. "C'mon, Em, just one drink, I promise." She looked at him. "Are you sensing a pattern? You lie."

"You know," He told her calmly, "If you would have just brought your suitcase with you we wouldn't even have to be having this conversation."

"Oh, right!" She scoffed. "As it is I'm going to have to sneak back into my room and hope that JJ is still sleeping otherwise I'm going to have to spin some tale for her as to why I'm crawling back into the room at four in the morning wearing your shirt."

"Don't you think it's time we told them the truth?" Derek asked softly. "We've been crawling into each other's beds for quite a while now, babe. I think we need to come clean. I'm tired of sneaking around. I want to wake up in the morning beside you, not your indented pillow and faintly lingering scent."

His words set her heart fluttering. "Derek."

"I love you, Emily." He told her. "I don't care who knows." He laughed at her bewildered expression. "You had to know."

She stood transfixed in the middle of the hall. He loved her. He loved her? How could he love her?

Derek watched the emotions play over her face. "Honey?" He watched in stunned surprise as she turned and fled down the hall. "Crap." He mumbled. He knew that he needed to be careful with Emily. She was even more skittish about a relationship than he was. And that was saying a lot. But he also knew that chasing her would not be the right thing to do. Emily liked to process. Well, he had given her a lot to think on.

Emily was so intent on getting back to her room unnoticed that she completely missed the blonde coming from the other direction intent on the same mission. They met at the door.

"JJ?"

It was hard to say who was more surprised.

Emily's eyes narrowed as she took in the smaller woman dwarfed in the blue tailored oxford shirt. "Nice shirt. Didn't I see Hotch wearing that yesterday?" She grinned as JJ flushed and began to weave a fantastic tale.

"We were going over some of the details in the case and I had a glass of wine that I spilled so he offered me this shirt…."

Emily looked pointedly at her bare legs. "Did the wine spill on your pants too?"

"Yes?" JJ answered hesitantly before looking down at her legs and realizing that hers were not the only bare pair in the hallway. "Hey! That's Derek's shirt." She accused.

"What'd you know? It appears we both suffered from severe case of butterfingers last night. I could not hold a glass to save my life." She shook her head and opened their shared door. "So," She asked, turning to JJ, "What's new with you?"

"Eh, I had really good sex last night." She shook her head and laughed suddenly happy to be free of the secret she'd been harboring. "You?"

She started to reply with the same but ended up blurting out. "Derek told me he loves me." Emily looked at JJ, the panic clearly evident on her face.

"Oh wow." She sensed that Emily was not entirely happy over the news. "That's good, right?" JJ asked softly as Emily moved over to the double bed that she'd been using and sank onto it. "What are you thinking, Em?"

Emily blew out a breath. "I don't know." She gestured with her hands. "At first it was all fun, the sex was great, even the sneaking around was kind of fun." She looked at JJ. "You probably get that." She said sarcastically. "But lately, I don't want to sneak, I don't want to hide it."

"What do you want?" JJ prompted.

"Crap." She emitted as realization sunk in. "I love him, Jay." Emily whispered, as if she were afraid to say it out loud. She dropped her head into her hands. "What am I thinking? He has a revolving door policy on his women, they come in and they go out. How long do they usually last, a month, two tops?"

JJ chuckled, it had been a true statement but she honestly hadn't seen that happening in the last couple months. She hadn't really thought a lot about the whys, but she had noticed. She said as much to Emily.

Keyed up with emotion Emily dropped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I'm kind of freaking out. Can we talk about you now?" She looked pleadingly at her friend.

"What's to tell? Hotch and I are fuck buddies." The comment was made with little emotion.

Emily popped up, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, what?"

JJ shrugged. "We enjoy each other's company. There's nothing to tell. I can tell you Aaron Hotchner will never, ever declare himself in a hotel hallway. He is far too busy mourning his ex-wife and blaming himself for her death." The emotion that was missing in her voice was evident in her eyes.

Emily stared at her for several beats. "Oh sweetie."

JJ sighed, realizing that she'd said far too much. Her eyelids dropped. "It's okay, Em, I knew the deal going in." She hugged herself tightly.

"Yet that didn't stop you?"

Of course it hadn't. Eyes filled with tears looked at Emily. "Do you want to know a secret?"

"Tonight does seem to be the night for them." She said with a smile, knowing before JJ said anything what she was going to say. Her next words confirmed it.

"I love him, Emily. I have for a long time and I decided if this was all I was going to get then I'd have to deal with it. I'd rather have something than nothing at all." And there were a lot of times she convinced herself it was enough.

Emily looked at her friend just barely holding it together. "Somehow that just doesn't seem fair."

JJ let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Trust me the sex is _really_ good."

"You don't want more?" Emily asked.

JJ sighed again, "Of course I do." She responded honestly. "But I know it's never going to happen."

"Have you tried talking to him?" Emily wondered.

JJ raised a brow. "You do realize how ironic that sounds coming from you, right?"

The brunette giggled, she wasn't big on communication either; her reaction had been to run. "Point taken."

JJ smiled. "What do you say we get cleaned up and go and get some breakfast? Now that someone else knows my secret I'm kind of keyed up. There is no way I'm going to be able to fall asleep."

"We can always sleep on the plane." Emily agreed.

CMCMCMCM

"Our girls seem a little tired." Rossi commented, moving past a sleeping JJ and Emily. "I'm going to pretend their naked pillow fight kept them up late last night."

Hotch shot him a piercing look. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that."

Rossi shrugged as he slid into the seat beside Morgan. "You look contemplative what's bugging you?"

The younger man flashed a quick smile. "You think full on naked or bras and panties?"

Reid was moving towards them and missed the earlier comment but caught Derek's. "What are we talking about?"

"Insubordination." Hotch deadpanned. "Both of you would get your asses handed to you if either Prentiss or JJ heard you." He told his unrepentant agents.

Rossi sighed and turned away from studying the two women. "You are really a buzz kill. You know what you need?"

Hotch looked up once more from his ever present stack of files. "Let me guess, a woman, to get laid, and a sense of humor." He looked at his friend. "Did I miss anything?"

Rossi nodded. "No, I think that about covers it."

"Wait," Reid asked, looking from Hotch to Rossi, "What happened to Beth?"

Morgan chuckled at Reid's lack of insight into the inner workings of the team. "She moved to New York," He paused, "about a year ago."

The young doctor frowned. It had been roughly a year ago that JJ and Will decided that their relationship had run its course. "I knew that she had moved but I thought that you were fine with a long distance relationship."

"It ran its course." Hotch replied offhandedly, unconsciously using the same phrase the JJ used when she announced the end of her relationship with Will.

The comment had Reid's eyebrows rising. He looked at his fellow companions to see if they thought anything odd but obviously not as Morgan was reaching for his earplugs and Rossi had pulled out a book. Hotch however was regarding him curiously. Reid pursed his lips. "Uh, that's, uh, too bad. She was nice."

Hotch stared at him for a moment longer before nodding. "Yes, she was a nice lady." Then he returned to his files.

Hotch stared at the file for a long time without even seeing the words. He realized his mistake as soon as he looked at Reid. Shit. The last thing he needed was for JJ to find out that he inadvertently slipped and exposed their relationship to Reid. She was wary enough. If she realized that he was the one to end things with Beth and not the other way around he could only imagine her reaction. She wasn't looking for a needy bastard that was so in love with her he'd take whatever she offered. She didn't want a commitment, she just wanted sex. Fuck. He scrubbed a hand over his face and willed his racing heart to slow. Unable to prevent it he stole a glance at her and sighed.

Morgan wasn't so stealthy. He used his headphones as a decoy and pretended to be lost in the music as he studied the object of his affection. She was asleep so she wouldn't scowl at him or make him look away. He was free to look his fill. If anyone would have ever suggested he would fall for Emily Prentiss he would have laughed. Not because of anything lacking in her, she just wasn't his type. Or so he thought. The more time he spent with her the more he was attracted, and the easier it was for him to see why none of the other women had stuck. Now if only he could convince her. She shifted and he quickly dropped his eyes. Last thing he needed was for her to find him ogling her.

JJ woke with a crick in her neck, as she rubbed it she quickly took inventory of where everyone was. Emily was still sound asleep, looking deceptively like she hadn't a care in the world. Reid and Rossi were reading. Morgan had his headphones on but she could have sworn he'd been looking in their direction. Hotch was working. He must have sensed her stare because he looked up and caught her.

"Rough night?" He questioned softly.

"Couldn't sleep."

"You should try the remedy that I suggested to Hotch." Rossi intoned.

JJ rolled her eyes. "I can only imagine what remedy you advised."

"So tell me, what's keeping you awake, Jen? I envisioned you and Prentiss engaged in a pillow fight. Naked."

JJ sighed as she stretched her tired limbs. Standing, she aimed for the galley, intent on a cup of coffee to clear the cobwebs. "We usually do have pillow fights when we're forced to share a room but last night we did full body massages." She dropped her voice seductively. "Emily has great hands."

"You really shouldn't encourage him." Hotch warned her. "I'm convinced he's in cahoots with the hotels to make sure you two room together. If he shows up at your door with a velvet smoking jacket, don't answer."

Rossi chuckled appreciatively. "Holy shit, was that a joke? Next thing you'll be telling me you got laid recently."

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Two Dress Shirts Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**A/N – Wow. This has been my most commented story yet which is simultaneously awesome and scary as crap. I hope that I can keep you interested! **

"Are you ignoring me?" Derek said to Emily the following day in the office.

"Kind of." She answered frankly. "But you're making it hard." She was referring to the fact that he'd shown up at her townhouse and placed multiple calls to her cell.

He hadn't been expecting that answer and it made him frown. "Oh."

Emily took pity on him, gently squeezing his arm. "I just need to think, Derek."

"About?" He prompted.

"Whether or not Sergio is getting a balanced diet." She snarked. "Really? You have to ask?" She smirked at him. "That was quite a declaration you made."

He let two agents pass him as they meandered around the office. "I don't understand what the problem is." He hissed, lowly. "It shouldn't have come as a huge surprise."

It had. "Well I don't think this is the place to discuss it." She hissed back.

He frowned as all kind of activity seemed to explode around them, preventing him from saying anything further. He groaned as he watched Garcia hone in on them knowing that he wasn't going to get any further chance to discuss it.

"Oh you're back." She raced towards him and enveloped him in a tight hug. "It's so lonely here without you guys." She turned and gave Prentiss the same treatment.

"It's not our fault you can't travel with us, Baby Girl." Morgan told her, throwing an arm across her shoulder. "You're the one that had to go and get knocked up."

Penelope Garcia was currently seven and a half months pregnant. It was hard to say who was most anxious for her to deliver but the office pool was currently betting on the man walking towards her with a bouquet of flowers.

"Garcia," He began gruffly. "I just want to apologize…"

As usual, the blonde steamrolled right over him. "Are those for me?" Garcia held out her hands to accept the flowers Hotch was holding out stiffly towards her.

The man in front of her took a deep fortifying breath. "I'm sorry I upset you, I assure you that wasn't my intent. You know how highly I value your contributions to this team." He instinctively attempted a step backwards as her bottom lip trembled.

"Oh sir." Before Hotch could move she had him in her clutches. "You say the nicest things. I'm sorry I'm such a mess." She sniffled as both Prentiss and Morgan, clearly reading the distress signals their leader was conveying, tried to extract him from her grasp. "This wasn't necessary." She blubbered.

"Why don't we put these in some water, Pen?" Emily told her, finally successful in disengaging her.

"How much longer before she goes on leave?" A completely flustered Hotch asked an amused Morgan.

"She's probably got another eight possibly ten weeks." A fact he knew from the countdown calendar that she had installed on his computer.

Hotch rubbed a hand over his face. "You may need to take lead on all Garcia related contact. I'm going to go broke or end up crying myself if I have to navigate through that again." He shook his head at the departing figure.

Morgan just laughed. "You know that she adores you."

"Right." Hotch shot him a look full of disbelief. "Which is why every time I say something she thinks I'm critiquing her and bursts into tears, the last episode all I did was say her name." He shrugged at the other man. "I even kept my voice clear of any inflection."

Morgan laughed. "I don't know what to tell you, I'm certainly no expert on women."

Hotch opened his mouth and closed it, looking at the other man with sheer puzzlement. "I don't even know what to say to that."

"Listen, I won't mention you being close to tears if you don't mention my non expert status." He offered him his hand to seal the deal.

"Done." Hotch said, slapping his hand in his subordinates. "But seriously, you're going to handle her for the next eight to ten weeks, right?"

JJ ran into Emily on her way out of Garcia's lair. "Hey."

"Hey. How's our little momma today?" She looked towards the office.

"Hotch brought her flowers," Emily grinned, "Because he made her cry. Again."

JJ winced. "He made her cry?" The poor man was probably going to start hiding from her. Hotch was always appreciative of everything that Pen did for the team but dealing with her was becoming increasingly difficult for him.

Emily snickered. "It gets better. Now she's worried about him. She's decided that he's too sweet not to have a woman to take care of him. She thinks he's lonely and wants to find him a woman."

JJ's face looked like she just swallowed something distasteful. "Oh?"

"It gets better, she's recruited Dave to help, and she's going to ask you too since you know him _so_ well." The snicker developed into a snort.

The blonde's head turned to make sure that no one overheard Emily's insinuation. "That's not funny." She glanced back at Garcia's office and knew that she was going to have to go in there and dissuade her from her plans. In a manner that didn't give away her own feelings for the man. "You couldn't talk her out of it?"

Emily gave her a look of complete disbelief. "She was difficult, at best, when she wasn't a hormonal land mine." She looked at her friend. "You realize that once she sets this in motion that she's not only going to aim for Hotch. She's going to try to partner up all of us?"

"You are so right, Miss Smartypants." Neither had seen the intrepid TA hovering around her door.

JJ winced wondering what, if anything, she'd overheard.

"Did Emily tell you?" Garcia asked her. "What do you think? Because Aaron Hotchner is absolutely the best. Did you know he brought me flowers?" Her eyes watered. "He so deserves to be happy." The first tear spilled over.

Ah man, not the tears! "Oh Pen, I know, he does, but honey, Hotch is a very private person. He will not appreciate you interfering in his personal life, regardless that it is with the best of intentions." She turned to Emily for support.

"She's right, Pen. Hotch won't be happy." She attempted to assist JJ.

"But that's the beauty. He doesn't even need to know that we're doing it." She squealed in glee. "Rossi is going to arrange everything." She clapped her hands. "You're going to help aren't you?"

JJ's jaw was so tight Emily was concerned. "No. I can't to be party to this. I know that your heart is in the right place but I think it's a mistake." She dropped her eyes. "I've got to get back to work."

"Peaches?" Garcia watched in confusion as her friend walked away. "What the heck just happened?"

Emily sighed and tried to do damage control. "Pen, you know that Jay holds Hotch in the highest esteem, and she would never do anything to jeopardize that. Well this potentially could. You are one of her best friends and you're asking her to put herself in the middle when she knows that he won't appreciate it. Hotch," She looked at the pregnant woman and sighed, "well, Hotch is afraid of you so he won't take his displeasure out on you but JJ is another story."

"But, but, Dave is Hotch's best friend and he thinks it's a great idea." Garcia pouted.

"This is also the same guy that paid a stripper to give him a lap dance while we were working on a case. Sometimes he doesn't have the brightest ideas." Emily kindly pointed out.

Pen thought that over. "Huh, good point." She looked at JJ's retreating figure sadly. "I don't want JJ to get blamed for anything."

"Right, so maybe instead of finding Hotch someone you should turn that focus onto Rossi. Then maybe he would be too busy to plot against Hotch." She gave her a wide smile. "Hotch would _definitely_ appreciate that."

Garcia's smile was slow. "You are sneaky Miss Prentiss. I like it." She looked in the direction JJ had gone. "Will you make sure you tell her that I'm not going to do anything? That I'd never do anything that got her in trouble."

"I know." She gave her friends arm a comforting squeeze. "JJ knows that too." She let out a heavy sigh when Garcia turned and moved back into her office. Turning around she started back towards her desk when suddenly two strong arms grabbed her and pulled her into JJ's old liaison office. Instinct kicked in and she gave her captive a hard elbow to the solar plexus.

"Damn woman, what is wrong with you?" Derek growled as he abruptly released her.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? What are you doing skulking around the hallway and pulling me into vacant offices?" She frowned when she looked up to find him grinning at her.

"Mmm mmm mmm, my god you are fine when you're pissed." He moved closer and placed his hands on her hips. "You can kick my ass any day."

"Are you nuts?" She hissed, slapping at his hands but he wasn't turning her loose. "We're at work you idiot."

"I don't like to be ignored." He informed her.

"Would you like to be _shot_?"

"Come on, Em. Cut me some slack, I put myself out there and your response is to flee." He pulled her close. "I'm a patient man, but give me a sign here."

"I told you I needed to think." She told him softly, but she didn't try to create any space, if anything she drew closer.

He smiled. "I know, but can I see you while you think?" His hands moved from her waist around her back and suddenly she was pressed up tightly against him. "I missed you last night."

She couldn't resist telling him that she'd missed him too. At which point he couldn't resist giving her a sample of what she'd missed. His mouth was cruising down her neck when she finally remembered where they were and pushed away from him. "What are you doing?" She asked breathless.

"Just saying hello." He told her with a grin.

"See? This is exactly why I can't think around you." She said backing up.

"What's to think about Em? I love you I want to be with you." Morgan told her.

"You're going to get us both written up." She mumbled.

"I don't care." He told her. "I love this job, but I love you more. I know that you doubt my sincerity. I just don't know what I need to do to prove to you that I'm serious. I want this. I want to be happy. With you."

Emily's eyes were huge and glassy by the time he finished. "I don't doubt your sincerity. Just… Why are you doing this here?"

"Because you wouldn't open your door last night." He reminded her.

She gave a tiny sigh. "Can we talk about it tonight?"

"Are you going to answer your door?"

She smiled. "Yes."

He moved before she could anticipate it. "Good." He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her deeply.

"Jeez, knock it off." She pushed off of him once again but she was smiling. "I have to get back to work. I think I need to do some mediation training, that's all I've been doing this morning."

He smirked. "I know. I've been lying in wait for you for a while." He'd followed her after parting with Hotch. "You want to tell me what's going on with JJ?"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about?"

Derek nodded. "Sure. You might have waited half a second before you denied it, then I may have believed you." He looked at her. "She definitely had some reservations about Garcia setting Hotch up."

"Of course she did, it was a bad idea. Because Hotch would be pissed but he can't take it out on Garcia, like I said she would just cry and he'd feel bad so he'd take it out on JJ, and even if she didn't agree with Garcia she'd end up defending her because she's JJ and that's what she does."

He nodded. "That is highly plausible, but I think there's more."

"Gosh," She huffed, "Then take it up with JJ not me. Again, I'm just trying to help my friend out."

He studied her as she moved to the door. "We're not going to start a relationship with you keeping secrets are we?"

"I don't know are we starting a relationship? Perhaps we can discuss that topic this evening." She told him with a smile as she breezed out of the door.

**Thanks for reading! Thank you so much for all the comments, favorites and follows I sincerely appreciate the interest. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Two Dress Shirts Chapter Three**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**A/N – Dave's a little over the top here but I kind of always picture him as a pot stirrer. Adorable and lovable but definitely a troublemaker…**

Any talk of relationship would have to wait as the team ended up being called in on a new case and were back at the airstrip before the day was out.

"What happened to B team? Can't they contribute every once in a while?" Derek grumbled as he lugged his go bag onto the plane.

"It's busy time for lowlifes. They're on a case in California." Rossi told him as he focused on the fact that once again JJ and Emily were huddled together as they waited for take-off. "What's going on with the two of you? Are you experiencing bi-curiosity? Because I've always been kind of interested and would enjoy watching."

Hotch looked up from his files. "Dave! Have you taken your annual sensitivity training? If so you may want to consider taking it again." He suggested.

Emily snorted and looked over at JJ announcing. "You know, I'm considering trying it for one night and letting him watch just to see him stroke out."

"Oh I'd stroke out all right." He gave them a lascivious grin.

"Oh, eww, Dave!" Both Emily and JJ made disgusted faces, definitely not meaning it the way Dave took it.

"Damn it, Dave!" Hotch shouted.

"What?" He asked with a charming shrug.

Hotch looked at Rossi clearly upset. "That is completely inappropriate. I believe you owe your co-workers an apology. You would never say something so degrading to Morgan or Reid."

"Please, it's an equal opportunity world. I say tasteless stuff to them all the time." He replied honestly.

Reid shook his head. "It's true, he does."

Morgan looked at the older man. "Yeah, although you say something to me about stroking anything I might have to break you."

Rossi chuckled. "I'm not looking to go Brokeback big guy, but if the ladies are up to something I think I want in on it."

"That's it!" Hotch slammed his hand on the table. "Consider this a formal warning. You wouldn't let anyone speak to them like that, don't think it is acceptable for you to do so."

"It's okay Hotch…" JJ started but abruptly shut up as she read his expression.

"Jeez, what has your tighty whities in a twist?" Rossi mumbled, but a fierce look from their leader had him turning back to the girls and offering a slightly insincere apology. "Ladies, I am very sorry for my insensitive comment."

"I still want the required training completed within forty eight hours of return to normal duty or you will have an official write up in your file." Hotch barked.

The rest of the flight was made in relative silence. They did a little brain storming and strategizing about the upcoming case but other than that it was quiet. No one wanted to risk their leader's obvious temper.

CMCMCMCM

JJ made her way to Hotch's room shortly after checking in. She wanted to know what was bothering him, and she foolishly wanted to believe that she alone could fix it. He'd been expecting her.

"Hey." She said, taking in the loosened tie and the scotch on the rocks. "What's going on with you? You don't usually let Dave's antics get to you." She frowned as he swirled his drink. "You don't usually let anything get to you."

He watched as she moved in the room and sat on the edge of his bed. Unable to stop himself he spouted. "He's flirting. I've been working with David Rossi long enough to recognize the little games he deploys when he's getting ready to hit on a co-worker." He took a sip of his drink. "Next he'll start in with the touching. It won't be exactly inappropriate but he'll find excuses to put his hands on you." Then Hotch would have to kill him. "I told him from the beginning that you were off limits."

His admission stunned her. "I'm sorry, what?" A little kernel of hope blossomed.

He didn't heed the tone in her voice and continued. "We never had anything that looked like that, my ass. Smug little bastard. He's wanted you from the day he saw you." He stated, pacing the length of the room.

"So what, you warned him off me because you wanted me for yourself?" She asked, trying to wrap her head around his obvious anger and the reasons for it.

The pacing stopped immediately and he looked over at her. "What? No. This was back when I was still married." He was so angry he didn't take into account how badly his words sounded.

Just like that her dream plummeted. "Of course, you didn't want me then. You barely want me now other than to scratch your itch." She stood from the bed. "But where Dave is concerned I'm off limits. Good thing you're here to warn him off otherwise I might just fall into bed with him too."

"What?" He looked at her and truly saw the anger and the hurt in her expression. "Wait, I never…"

Her voice broke as she stated, "This was a bad idea we should have never started this to begin with. I don't know what I was thinking." She moved quickly towards the door praying that she would exit it before she fell apart.

He was half a step behind her. "Wait, JJ, I.." She opened the door and ran directly into Rossi.

"Whoa, Kitten, I'm used to women throwing themselves at me but give me a minute to catch you." He chuckled before realizing she was actually crying and struggling in his grasp. "Hey, I was just kidding. I'm sorry." He stood transfixed as she slipped from his hold. His eyes traveled from the hurt woman to the fury of his friend. "Well, I guess that explains why you aren't interested in dating."

"Watch it, Dave." He cautioned.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" The older man asked.

"No." He looked down at his drink. "She doesn't want me to chase after her." He finished the contents of his glass and moved to pour another.

Rossi moved into the room and closed the door. "I think you might have misread the situation, pal."

"We had a mutually satisfying agreement with the understanding that it could end whenever either party wanted it to." He closed his eyes as he swallowed the strong liquid. He just never assumed that day would arrive so quickly.

Rossi watched him for a moment. "So that's it? You're ready for it to be over." He gave a slight smile as the younger man looked at him, his expression bleak. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

"I was in here ranting about you wanting her." He glared at Rossi. "All that shit on the plane both today and the other day. You were out of line." And the thought of the suave older man swooping in and charming her brought out the green eyed asshole in him.

Rossi chuckled. "Here I was trying to get under Derek's skin and caught you in my web."

"What are you talking about?" Hotch asked him.

"Morgan has been mooning over one of them. He pretends to be engrossed in his music and deep thinking." He scoffed. "Like I couldn't see through that."

"He's interested in JJ?" Jesus, was Reid next?

"He's interested in _one_ of them, I didn't say JJ specifically." He watched as Hotch strode to his bedside table and grabbed his phone. "What are you doing?"

"Garcia? Hey, I need JJ's room number." Hotch groaned as he listened to the analyst drone on about JJ not being part of a plot to find him a woman. "Garcia. Garcia. GARCIA." He paused long enough to hear the first sniff. "Garcia, I need to know JJ's room number because _she_ is my woman. The only one that I want. I just need to convince her." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "No, I'm not bullshitting you. Yes, Garcia. No, I'm not telling you that. Because I think the first person that hears me make that declaration should be JJ." He clenched his fist as she let out another sob. "I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make her happy. Garcia, I can't do that if you don't tell me what fucking room she's in." He pleaded.

Rossi laughed at his friend's discomfort. "You know you could have probably gone to the front desk for this information. It might have been easier."

Hotch waved a hand at him to shush him. "Thank you, Garcia." He sighed with relief now that he had the room number. "Yes. Okay. I understand. Garcia. Garcia. GARCIA. I have to go, I have to go and find JJ." The analyst wasn't done speaking and promising him dire circumstances should he disappoint her Gumdrop. "Okay. Alright. You know what? Why don't you talk to Dave?" He tossed the phone at his friend before racing to the door.

He was in the corridor and finally in pursuit when Morgan approached him. "Hotch. Hey." The younger man appeared nervous. "I, uh, need to talk to you. It's important."

What the hell was it with his team seeking him out all of a sudden? "Can it wait?"

Morgan took in his boss's disheveled appearance and shook his head. "I'd rather get this off my chest now."

Glancing longingly in the direction he yearned to go he turned back to his subordinate. "Okay. What is it?"

Morgan frowned at Hotch's obvious impatience. "Do you think we can have this discussion in my hotel room rather than in the middle of the hallway?"

"Fine." He conceded begrudgingly. Hotch followed his agent back down the hall in the other direction then waited until he opened his room and ushered him in. "What's this about, Derek?"

Derek wiped his suddenly damp palms on his pants. "I, uh, I need to disclose to you that I've been having an intimate relationship with a fellow team member." He winced as Hotch lost most of the color in his face. "I, ah, know that it is against regulation."

"How long?" Hotch bit out.

Derek frowned, not sure why that was relevant, but the look on Hotch's face had him answering. "Ah, about four months."

Hotch closed his eyes. "Four months." She'd been seeing Derek during the time she'd been with him. He felt eviscerated, he knew that he agreed to a no strings relationship but he thought she felt _something_ for him. At the very least he assumed that she hadn't been sleeping with anyone else while she was sleeping with him.

Derek had been worried about coming clean to his boss, now he was just worried period. "Are you okay, man?" The man looked like he lost his best friend and was in danger of losing his supper.

"What?" Hotch fought to focus on the man in front of him. "Oh, sorry, okay. Is that all?"

Derek's jaw dropped. "Okay? Is that all?" He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but this wasn't it.

"I'm not sure what you want me to say." He wasn't sure he was going to be able to leave the fucking room with his dignity intact.

"What the hell is going on? Are you sick, Hotch?" He asked his supervisor in confusion.

"There is a good chance I'm going to be before the night is over." He headed towards the door. "Now if you don't mind I have a perfectly good bottle of scotch in my room that needs my attention." He made it to the door and paused. "Do you love her?" He couldn't prevent the question from pouring out.

"Yeah, I do." Morgan answered and was even more baffled by the slump of his leader's shoulders. He couldn't prevent asking again. "Hotch, man, are you okay?"

He didn't know if the other man heard and chose to ignore him or what but he didn't answer, he just opened the door.

"Well, hello…Oh, Hotch." Emily squeaked out. "Hey." Her eyes were big as saucers. "I was just coming to see if Derek wanted to …" She broke off as she got a good look at the man. "Hotch, are you alright?"

"No." He answered honestly and made to move past her.

"Hotch? Hey, I don't mean to be an ass, but can you give me some kind of clue as to what you're going to do with the information I just told you?"

"I'm going to go to my room and consume a fifth of scotch. Possibly order another bottle." He stated as he began his lonely trudge down the hall.

"But are you going to separate Emily and I?" Derek called after him.

"What the hell did you do?" Hotch heard Emily hiss.

"I disclosed our relationship." Derek told her proudly.

"Are you crazy?"

"Probably." He told her. "I'm not hiding it. I told you that." They were focused on one another and did not see Hotch stop and turn back towards them completely baffled.

"WAIT!" Hotch growled while moving back towards them. "Emily." He pointed at the woman. "You're having a relationship with Emily?"

Derek looked at him odd. "Yeah, I told you that."

Hotch shook his head. "No. No you definitely did not." He gave a slight chuckle and glanced down at the scrap of paper waded in his hand and quickly moved the opposite direction down the hall leaving the pair to stare after him curiously.

Emily and Derek shared a puzzled look. "How much of that first bottle did he drink?" She asked inquiringly.

**Thanks for reading! As always, thank you for the comments. I love to hear what you think about my stories. Big thanks for the folks that favorite and follow, too. Hope you're all still with me! **


	4. Chapter 4

**The Blue Dress Shirt Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**A/N – It's SNOWING in Northern Virginia today. In my mind fictional JJ and Hotch are having a snowball fight with Jack and Henry. Derek and Emily are probably pursuing other activities…**

The incessant knocking on the door finally penetrated her grief filled fog. JJ moved off the bed and looked out the peephole. "Is this work related?" JJ said loud enough for him to hear.

"Is that the only thing that's going to get me through the door?" Hotch yelled back.

"I think going forward we need to focus on keeping our relationship strictly professional." She shouted.

He laid his hand flat on the door and continued to speak loud enough for her to hear through it. "That's going to be hard for me to do."

"You've managed to behave very professionally the last six months, you'll figure it out."

"I love you, JJ." He hollered loudly. "I'm in love with you." Her door and several others swung open.

"Are you insane?" She hissed, flinging open the door and pulling him into her room. "That's a cheap trick screaming that in the corridor so I'd open the door.

He stood transfixed as he looked at her standing in the blue dress shirt she'd worn from his room the other evening. "You're wearing my shirt."

She flushed, embarrassed to have been caught. "We're not talking about my apparel. We're talking about you using some dirty ploy to get me to open my door!"

"The dirty ploy was saying whatever I thought you wanted to hear to get you in my bed." Hotch told her.

JJ's mouth dropped open and her eyes filled. "Wow. Really? Thanks for coming down here and making sure that I knew _that_. Because I didn't feel bad enough already."

He'd already noticed her red rimmed eyes they gave him courage to continue as if she hadn't spoken. "I thought you didn't want a relationship. I thought you wanted a 'no strings attached' fuck buddy. Your words, JJ, not mine. I got out of the relationship I was in the minute you announced you and Will were separating. I've been half in love with you for years. I figured that I would take whatever measly affection I could get from you. I figured I could worship your body and make you fall in love with me." He growled as she stood silent. "What? You don't have any witty comeback?"

Her eyes were wide with surprise. "You told me Beth dumped you."

He hadn't expected that to be the part that captured her attention. "Yeah, well, I lied. I dumped her." He confessed. "Over the phone. I couldn't even be bothered to do it in person." He admitted. He had been a complete asshole but he hadn't cared, he had one single minded goal and she was standing in front of him.

"Wow. That was pretty rotten." She bit her lip to prevent a smile. "I cried out your name during sex."

He wasn't sure of the relevance of the statement but breathing suddenly became easier. "I know I was there." He made damn sure that she was satisfied whenever they were together.

She shook her head. "No you weren't. I was married at the time." She sheepishly declared. "Stuff like that is really hard on a marriage."

The vice on his heart loosened. "Huh. No wonder Will scowled at me when I ran into him at the grocery store." He moved closer to her. "You look really good in my shirt." His eyes flared with attraction.

"I brought it to return to you." She'd had it laundered but it was the first thing she reached for when she came back to her room miserable over the assumption that her whatever it was with Hotch had come to an abrupt end. She planned on keeping the damn shirt.

His hand reached out for her hip and fisted in the shirt material. "I don't want it back. I want you to keep it. In fact, the only time I want you to take it off is when I'm here to take it off you."

"You're here now." She told him, stepping closer.

He swallowed seeing the heat in her eyes. "I'm going to need strings, JJ. I'm a pretty traditional guy. You don't want to get married that's fine, I guess, but I want a committed relationship, I want…"

"I love you." She blurted out, stopping his speech. "I thought you didn't want a commitment because you were still hung up on Haley."

He couldn't stop himself from leaning down and taking her mouth in his. She loved him. He had her backed up to the bed before he realized that he moved. Hands were busy quickly removing the barriers that separated them then he was pressing her into the mattress, joining their bodies completely.

"We really need to work on our communication skills." He held her tightly as their bodies cooled. "JJ part of me will always love Haley, for what we once had and because she gave me Jack, but I haven't been in love with her since before the divorce."

"I was so convinced that the reason that you and Beth broke up, was due to the fact that you couldn't commit to one woman while you were in love with another."

He dropped a kiss on her head. "Well, that was the reason, but you were the woman I was in love with." He shook his head. "I thought I would die when you so flippantly suggested we become lovers."

"Huh." He responded quickly but calmly when she'd brought it up. She'd thought him horny, but otherwise unaffected. "You took me up on my offer pretty quickly."

"Do I look stupid?" He chuckled. "Don't judge by my behavior today."

That reminded her. "It took you long enough to come after me." So long she assumed that he wasn't planning on coming.

He winced, realizing he was going to have to admit to more bad deeds. "On my way here Derek accosted me in the hall to divulge a personal relationship." He let out a sigh and confessed. "I thought he was talking about you."

JJ sat up and swatted him. "Jeez, what, did you think I was servicing the whole damn team?"

He captured her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. "I just decided to let Rossi live and all of a sudden I had to adapt my plan to kill Morgan." He grinned at her. "Obviously I wasn't thinking very clearly."

"Obviously, I think Morgan could probably take you."

"Ha." Hotch scoffed, "not if it meant keeping you from me."

CMJHDE

Derek Morgan sat patiently as Emily paced the length of the room. She had been rambling for the last twenty minutes at least and he felt it prudent not to interrupt her. Every so often she would direct a question at him then grumble without giving him the opportunity to really answer.

"Did you even consider what you were doing when you decided to _divulge_ our relationship to Hotch?" She turned to him angrily. "Well?" She huffed, waiting for his answer.

"Oh, are you going to let me speak now?" He bravely asked. "Or are you just going to stomp and rant some more?"

"You didn't even tell me you planned on doing it. You made a huge decision that is going to impact both of us and you just acted on it. We were supposed to talk first."

"If it helps I don't think Hotch cares. I don't know what's going on with him."

Emily smiled genuinely for the first time. "He thought you were telling him you were involved with JJ."

"JJ? Why would Hotch care if I was talking about… Oh!" His eyes widened. "Really?" When Emily nodded, he shook his head. "I'll be damned." Then he snorted. "He can't do anything about what I told him tonight, he's doing the exact same thing!"

"That's not the point, Derek." Emily griped.

Tired of arguing he stood from the room's one chair. "Then what is the point? What are we doing here? I'm getting a damn complex." He began to pace. "You only want this relationship if we have to do it in secret?"

"I didn't say that."

"There's a lot that you _haven't_ said." He told her pointedly, he was clearly the agitated one now.

And for some odd reason that calmed her. "Do you want me to tell you that I love you?"

"Well, don't do me any damn favors." He muttered.

She couldn't help but smile. He was really working himself up in a snit. "You are really cute when you're pathetic. That bottom lip pushes out any further I'm going to swoon."

He shot her a look to show her just how much he didn't appreciate her comment. "I'm glad you're enjoying the fact that I'm pissed off. You know, I only wanted to do the right thing. If Hotch would have found out about this on his own he wouldn't have been happy. I know that our having the relationship is against policy but I can't help the fact that I fell in love with you. I told my superior so we can figure out a solution. It was the right thing to do. I trust Hotch he's an honest, good man."

The fact that he was an honest and good man himself was another part of the reason he came clean to Hotch. She smiled at him. "I am really going to miss working with you and JJ." She gave a slight shrug. "But at least I'll be able to wake up next to you in the mornings when we're both in town."

He abruptly stopped moving. "No more sneaking around in hotels." He asked, moving over to where she stood.

Her smile faltered. "Really? I kind of liked that part." She teased. "Admit it having a secret relationship was hot. All the times we almost got caught. Barely making it back to the room before ripping each other's clothes off." Her hand slipped over to his waist. "I'm pretty sure that was my favorite part." Her hand slid into his jeans, making contact with the taut skin. "What do you say we reenact that right now for old time sake?"

He chuckled over her enthusiasm. "Should I worry that you're going to want to start having sex in public places for the thrill of it?"

The idea was absurd. "No, but you should worry that I really want you in me like two minutes ago." She pulled his shirt over his head and attacked his mouth.

Derek looked up from the floor and groaned. "I really think we could have aimed for the bed."

"Next time." Emily promised. She leaned forward on her elbow. "So, do you want to go out or are we ordering in."

"Cat's out of the bag baby. I say if this is our last case together we go all out."

She pondered it for a second. "Okay, but tomorrow we are strictly professional."

"I promise not to call you babe or grab your ass." He moaned as he got off of the floor and reached down to assist her.

"Don't go crazy." She told him as she leaned into him and kissed him lingeringly. "You know I love you, right?"

His smile lit his face. "I knew you were getting there."

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. A special thank you to all that are so kind to leave a comment – I really appreciate the feedback. As well as to all that have followed and/or favorited the story.**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Blue Dress Shirt Chapter Five**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**A/N – Two more chapters to go after this. This one wasn't my favorite but it does pave the way for the next two so it stays as it is….**

The flight back to Quantico was just as quiet as the flight from had been as four of the agents on board realized that this would likely be their last case together. Thanks to the fact that four of the six engaged in activities that were definitely frowned on in the Code of Conduct.

"Can I just address the elephant in the room?" Rossi questioned, breaking the silence. He waited until everyone looked at him then broke into a shit eating grin. "Reid and I were the only two agents that weren't behaving inappropriately."

"Bully for you, Dave." Emily groused. "I guess there is a first time for everything."

"So what are we going to do?" Reid asked, voicing the question that was uppermost on everyone's mind. "I think we all agree that it's too late to ask you to consider the team before hooking up with co-workers."

JJ shook her head recalling how she and Hotch celebrated the end of the case last night and into the early morning. "Yeah, we're a little past that, Spence."

"Long past." Morgan added.

"Oh hell," Rossi scoffed, "it's not like this hasn't been going on for a while now anyhow, can't we just keep it within the team? No one else needs to know."

"Garcia knows." Hotch said with a sigh, he had been the perpetrator of that error.

"Which means she's probably already got Anderson helping her hang congratulatory banners throughout the office." Rossi quipped, as Morgan snorted, knowing that was indeed likely.

JJ shared a smile with Hotch letting him know that she was okay with what was happening. "I've been entertaining offers from the State Department." She announced.

"Since when?" Hotch demanded, surprised by the news.

"A while." She sheepishly admitted. "I was having a hard time pretending to be blasé about the whole thing and I figured it was only a matter of time before it imploded. I wasn't going to be able to function working here when you kicked me to the curb."

Hotch stared at her, stunned. "Wow. We were really stupid." He leaned forward and grabbed her hand. "I was looking at an opening in Counterterrorism."

JJ frowned. "You love the BAU."

He shrugged and admitted. "It might surprise you to learn it pales in comparison to how much I love you."

"I'm going to need an airsick bag." Rossi grumbled, earning him a smack upside the head from Emily.

She looked over at Derek. "Clyde has been after me to rejoin his team." She confessed.

Derek shot up from his seat. "Absolutely not, you cannot take a position in another _country_. I can't believe you would even consider it." He objected.

"I would be working out of the DC office and would be traveling overseas as needed, but it would probably not involve any more travel than I currently do." She smiled at JJ. "And hey, it looks like I already have a contact in the State Department."

Hotch sighed heavily not liking what was happening. "I don't know that we have to make any decisions right now."

"Aaron." JJ smiled over at him. "We need to do something. There is no way that we can function as a team with two couplings."

"Why not?" Derek argued. "We've been doing it for at least four months. How long have you and Hotch been hooking up?"

"Long enough that I know I'm going to end up with an ulcer if I have to pretend that I'm unaffected by every dangerous situation that he constantly gets pulled into." JJ snapped. "I can honestly say I can't be as effective as I need to be in the situations we encounter if my biggest concern is whether or not he'll be okay." If anyone doubted the depth of her feelings for Hotch that announcement cleared it up.

Reid smiled. "That's very wise, JJ. The State Department will be lucky to have you."

"Thank you." She looked at Hotch trying to ease the guilt she knew he was feeling. "I'm not sacrificing anything here. The job comes with better hours and way better money. The only thing I'll be missing is you guys." She winked over at Hotch. "You, I'll be seeing a lot of."

"Well I don't like it." Derek grumbled.

Emily sighed. "Well maybe you should have considered that before you decided to disclose our relationship to Hotch. What did you think would happen?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "Obviously not this. If you go to Interpol and have to fly off to Timbuktu and I'm still at the BAU and have to fly off to whatever god forsaken hole I have to, when will I see you?" He bemoaned pathetically.

"When you get back." Emily answered, reassuringly. "Relationships are something you have to work at, this is just going to be one of our crosses. Are you implying you want out?"

Derek shot her a look. "I didn't say that, did I?"

Emily rose from her seat and moved over beside Derek pulling him down on the couch beside her. "Just think, I can bring you back trinkets from Timbuktu and you can bring me souvenirs from hell. It'll be romantic."

"I'd figure out a way to work in a lot of see thru items if I were you." Rossi advised Morgan.

They sat quietly for a few minutes as they contemplated all the changes that they were going to be facing.

Morgan looked at Hotch. "Strauss is going to have your ass when she realizes that you're losing two agents at the same time. She's going to question your leadership abilities."

Hotch shrugged as he moved into the seat that Emily vacated beside JJ. "What's new? She already does."

"If she finds out…" Morgan began only to be interrupted by Hotch.

"If she finds out, she finds out. Our record stands for itself. Nothing that we might have been doing impacted our success rate."

"She could still sanction us." The agent doggedly pointed out.

Hotch shook his head. "She can punish me she can't do anything to you. Emily's resignation was already on my desk by the time I learned of a relationship." At least that was the story he would tell if it came down to it.

Emily smiled and recalled Morgan's assessment of the man. He was a good guy.

Reid sighed heavily. "Well this sucks. I'm going to miss you guys." He was losing two friends and he didn't have a lot to begin with.

"Reid, you're Henry's godfather. I'll still be seeing you frequently." JJ pointed out.

"Yeah." Emily added. "We'll still do stuff outside of work, it's not like we're going to disappear.

"Personally I think it's great." Rossi stated, causing all eyes to look at him sharply. "Yeah, just think, Reid, this means that we have two job openings, we can get two new agents."

"And that's good why?" The young genius asked puzzled.

"Love interests for the two of us." Rossi stated. "And it's not like Hotch is going to be able to give us any shit over it."

JJ looked over at Hotch. "You know, I think our replacements should probably be male."

He grinned over at her. "You realize that I'm probably going to have to replace you with women. Strauss won't let me have an all-male team. Something about equal opportunity."

"Fine." JJ conceded. "As long as they're ugly. I don't want some starry eyed recruit coming in and hitting on you."

"Love is obviously blind." Morgan scoffed. "They all want a piece of this sculpted work of art." He said, obviously referring to himself.

"Oh sweetie." Emily squeezed his knee. "Actually Hotch is something like an enigma to the female FBI population, he's good looking, well thought of by men and women alike..."

"With the exception of Strauss." JJ interrupted.

"Right, but she's not very well thought of so that's usually disregarded." She stated before continuing. "And he gives off that aura of being a touch sad, kind of like he needs healed and there are a lot of women that think they might be the cure."

JJ looked over at the man beside her. "Yeah, maybe you should get another job."

"Don't worry." Rossi told her. "Everyone knows what a good shot you are. I don't think you have anything to be concerned about." He turned to Emily. "What do you hear about the rest of us?"

Emily laughed. "You, you used to be the bad boy of the FBI but lately you've been well behaved, which is actually another feather in Hotch's cap." She chuckled knowing how that would sit with Rossi.

"Ah, crap." Hotch turned and looked at Emily. "You do realize now that you've told him that he's going to be unbearable." He winced when Rossi's smile of confirmation grew.

"Well, what about me?" Morgan wanted to know.

"Interestingly enough, this is where my hesitation came in. You are well known for your revolving door policy." She looked at him pointedly. "There is some talk that those standing outside the door can actually feel the breeze coming from the door it rotates so quickly." She smiled at his disgruntled expression.

"Well, obviously that's no longer the case is it?" Morgan commented with a grin.

Reid sat glumly. "They don't say anything about me, do they?"

Emily met JJ's glance. "No, they do, but most of it is in regard to how smart you are. There might be a little confusion over your sexual orientation." She told him with a wince.

"What?" He asked startled. "How do I fix that?"

JJ sat up already thinking of a plan. "How about the rumor that Emily and I left because we were both infatuated with you, the hot, young, genius from the BAU? The man that we both wanted but neither could win."

"Smart guys are a huge turn on." Emily stated, liking where JJ was going.

"Nobody would ever believe that." Reid argued. "Hey, are you trying to get me in trouble?" He asked his friend.

JJ shook her head. "No, not at all, we're just trying to create some doubt. No one, outside the six of us, knows the real reason why Emily and I are leaving." She smiled at him. "A rumor like this can't hurt Hotch and Derek, and it may help you."

Reid's brow furrowed. "Help me how exactly?"

"It might get you laid, kid." Rossi clarified, smiling at the devious blonde.

"Really?" He asked with genuine interest.

"Really." Emily promised.

"A lot." Rossi guaranteed. "Just keep up that aloof persona you'll be getting blow jobs in the john before you know it."

"DAVE!" Hotch growled.

"Seriously?" Reid asked, extremely intrigued by the idea.

Hotch looked at JJ. "Do you realize what you're leaving me with? A man who is bent on making Reid his protégé."

JJ leaned forward and placed a soft, calming kiss on his mouth. "Don't worry you'll have Morgan to help you and there's always Garcia." She smiled when a look of pure panic came into his eyes.

"Garcia." He stared at her. "What are we going to do about her?"

JJ squeezed his hand. "She'll be fine, honey."

"Ha." Morgan scoffed.

"You!" Hotch yelled, turning to Morgan. "You promised you'd handle Garcia, we shook on it."

"Aaron, Garcia will be fine, she's going to be happy." JJ told him.

As if conjured from thin air the laptop screen popped with Garcia's face. "Hello family! What am I going to be happy about?" She smiled widely realizing that JJ and Hotch were seated together. "Look at you two. I about died when Boss Man called me the other day. JJ, you little minx, how could you keep that from me? The BAU's own little romance. I'm so excited. Just think we can cut our hotel budget by a sixth now that you guys are shacking up."

"Oh yeah, she's going to take it well." Rossi snorted.

**Thank you for reading! As always, I really appreciate every review, favorite, and or follow. I love to hear feedback, especially the nice stuff! **


	6. Chapter 6

**The Blue Dress Shirt Chapter Six **

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**A/N – I had fun with this chapter, I guess because this really is how I see Garcia behaving. She has a personality that can sometimes annoy and overwhelm you but in the end you love her because that's just who she is.**

"How'd she take it?" Hotch asked as JJ stepped out of the office of their technical analyst.

"Well." She made a face as she latched on to his arm to pull him away before Garcia decided to venture out of her lair. "Not quite as well as I had hoped." They'd only got a few steps when she stopped them.

"You!" Garcia accused. "You're breaking up our family." She sniffed. "Because of you JJ is going to leave the BAU to go to the State Department. Do you know what's going to happen to her there?"

JJ watched as the man who stared fear in the face and didn't so much as blink wavered in the face of their indignant TA. She counted to ten as she let Garcia scold him but when she accused him of being selfish she'd heard enough and interceded. "Alright, Pen."

"Don't you stick up for him." Garcia sniffled. "Do you know what he did?"

"Garcia, Hotch didn't _do_ anything. Just the other day you were going on about how he deserved the best." JJ said calmly.

"Well I didn't mean you." She lamented. "Especially if it means losing you, what am I going to do without you here?"

JJ smiled indulgently. "Oh Garcia, you're not losing me. I just told you that. I'm going to have better hours and I'm going to be making a lot more money. You'll probably see me more."

"If you want more money I can get you more money." Garcia stated wildly.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't just hear that." Hotch said dryly.

Garcia looked at Hotch angrily. "You just better hope you get a paycheck."

JJ watched as Hotch blanched and frowned. "Pen, I love you but you're being ridiculous and that was just mean. Instead of making him feel bad you should be congratulating us. We're in love. I love him – like over the moon, crazy happy, want to spend the rest of my life with him. Do not make him feel bad about _my_ decision to find another job. Because I would make the same decision every single time if it meant I got to keep him." She stated earnestly.

Penelope blinked, looked at JJ and then looked at Hotch. "I am so happy for you guys." She blubbered before throwing herself in Hotch's arms.

"Thanks, Pen." JJ said, rubbing her back soothingly and smiling up at Hotch. "We're pretty happy too."

Her smile widened as Hotch grimaced and said. "Uh, Garcia, I want you to know, I meant everything I said to you the other evening. I do love JJ and I will do everything in my power to make her happy."

Garcia sniffled. "I know you will. I'm sorry I'm such an emotional mess."

"You never have to apologize when you're looking out for JJ's best interests." Hotch assured her.

Garcia stepped back and looked up at Hotch. "We both know that I was only concerned about myself." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "You know, you really are a catch. I'm glad JJ was the one that caught you."

"Me too." Hotch said sincerely.

Garcia stepped back and studied the pair. "Okay, I'm just going to go back to my office and make computer generated pictures of what your eventual kids will look like."

JJ watched as Hotch went white. "She's just kidding."

"No I'm not." Garcia scoffed, turning towards her office. "I bet they're going to be cuties."

"Aaron, you're going to turn blue if you don't breathe soon." JJ said to Hotch who continued to stare after the tech who was now laughing merrily.

"Do you want more kids?" He turned and questioned suddenly.

JJ was startled, did she want more kids? She looked up at his anxious face. "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it. Do you want more kids?" She asked throwing the question back at him.

Hotch stared at her for half a second. "I did." He admitted. "I like kids. I wanted a whole house full but it just never happened, and then I got a divorce and it was never going to happen."

"Oh." JJ blinked, surprised at his answer. She hadn't known that. "Maybe we should discuss it."

"Is it going to be a deal breaker?" He asked, suddenly nervous, feeling his tenuous hold on happiness already slipping out of his grasp.

JJ moved into him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm pretty sure it's not." She sighed as he leaned down to capture her mouth in his.

"Oh my God are they are going to be cute!" They heard Garcia screech.

JJ giggled as they turned away from the office. "So, how do you feel about marriage?" An emboldened Hotch asked as they turned to head back towards the bullpen.

CMCMCMCM

Garcia was still making little baby Jotch's when Morgan knocked on her door. "What'cha doin' Baby Girl?"

"Hello Handsome." She gestured for him to come in. "I am determining what future Hotchner babies will look like."

Derek's jaw dropped. "JJ's _pregnant_?"

"No." Garcia laughed. "At least not yet." She mumbled under her breath.

Derek frowned. "I didn't think about babies." He stated in a panic.

Garcia snorted. "Men rarely do. You like the part that leads up to the babies well enough but sometimes you fail to realize that they are often the end result of the fun you like to have." She smiled at his concern. "Don't worry Hotch and JJ are going to be fine. I bet you fifty dollars they'll be popping one of these out by this time next year." She rubbed a hand fondly over her distended stomach.

"I don't know if she wants kids, Pen." His eyes were wide. "I don't know if I want kids."

Garcia hands lifted from her keyboard abruptly and she swiveled. "She? Who she?" She barked at Derek as he sat slack-jawed. "Why do you have a she that I don't know about?" She laughed when his eyes cleared and he looked at her. "And do not even try to deny anything now. Spill."

"I wasn't." He assured her. "Why do you think I'm visiting you?"

She leveled him with a look. "What I'd like to know, Derek Morgan, is why all of my friends think it is okay to keep secrets from me?"

Derek flashed a smile that always served him well in the past. "Baby Girl…"

Garcia pursed her lips refusing to be taken in by his charming antics. "Cut the crap, Hot Stuff."

There was a slight knock then Emily stuck her head in the room. "Hey." Her eyes widened when Penelope turned to her with a ferocious look. "You're busy, I'll come back."

Pen already spotted Derek's reaction upon Emily's arrival. Recent events opened her eyes. "Oh no you don't, get back here." She waited until Emily slunk back into the office. "So, you and my Chocolate Adonis?"

Emily looked at Derek who did nothing more than shrug. "Um."

"Honestly what is wrong with you people? Coupling up like you were horny teenagers at summer camp." She scoffed.

Morgan grinned at the analogy. "You're the one that's always telling me I have to find a nice girl and settle down." He held his hand out for Emily. "I finally took your advice."

"Don't try to placate me with a backhanded compliment. I know all of your games, Player." She studied them as she had JJ and Hotch. Their hands were intertwined and Emily stood close to where Morgan sat. She sighed sadly. "Which one?"

Emily wasn't surprised that she was so shrewd. "Only me, Pen. Derek couldn't leave you."

"Well don't assume that I'll handle your leaving any better." She announced as two fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

Emily was immediately at her side. "Oh, come on, Garcia, you know I don't handle tears well." She sent a panicked glance to Derek.

"Maybe you should have considered that before you came in here to rip my heart out."

Emily kneeled in front of her. "This is a really good deal, I'm going to go back to Interpol, but I'll be based out of DC. I'll have my own office and a team of people." She rubbed Penelope's knee. "And the pay is better."

"I had no idea you and JJ were so materialistic." Garcia pouted.

Emily laughed. "You know, we figured this was a much better solution than all of us getting fired."

Garcia let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, that's a good point. So, you and Derek, huh? Is he as good as I always suspected he'd be?"

"He gets the job done, Pen." Emily replied, drolly, not quite comfortable talking about her sex life.

"I won't pressure you for details since he's in the room but just between you and me this topic isn't closed." She told her pointedly. She grinned deviously. "So Emily, what's your stance on babies?"

Not sure where the question was coming from she turned to Derek who only shrugged. "I, uh, like them." She said hesitantly as she stood back up while Garcia swiveled back to her computer.

"This is what baby Hotchner might look like." A picture of a baby popped up on the screen that had a mesh of JJ and Hotch's features. "Pretty cute, huh?" She said over her shoulder as Emily broke into a wide smile. "If you liked that, wait until you see this." The words barely left her mouth when a new picture popped up.

"What is that?" Emily croaked as she took in the picture of a baby with a skin tone slightly lighter than Derek and eyes shaped like her own. She couldn't help staring in awe.

Grinning at the dumbfounded expression on both Derek and Emily's faces Garcia laughed. "I call this one baby Demily. It's a companion to baby Jotch." She executed a split screen and both computer generated pictures appeared. "Auntie Pen wants this to be a reality so you horny fools better get cracking. I want something good to come out of my loss."

"How about we get back to you on that?" Derek promised her, leading a stunned Prentiss from the room. "Don't freak out, Em." He cautioned her.

"I'm not." Emily drew to a stop. "Did you see that baby?" She asked him. "I want that baby." Her eyes flew open wide and she slapped a hand over her mouth. Then she giggled unable to stop the laughter that bubbled out. "Oh my God. Derek, I want a baby." She looked at him. "Say something."

He pressed a hard kiss on her mouth. "I'm not doing anything tonight."

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Garcia remained in her office the rest of the morning. She didn't like change and she'd been forced to deal with a lot of it. Her eyes were almost as swollen as her feet. She sighed when a knock on the door announced another visitor. Bracing herself she turned and hollered out "Come in."

Rossi and Reid sheepishly filed into her office.

Garcia stared at them in fear. "I swear to god if you two tell me that you're sleeping together …"

Rossi and Reid exchanged horrified glances and stepped apart from one another. "What?" Reid gasped. "No, no, not at all."

Rossi however greeted the statement with a chuckle. "Very funny, Penny, no, Reid and I were the only ones not having sex. That's why we're here." He told her cryptically.

Garcia raised a brow. "Do tell."

Rossi closed the door to her office and stepped closer to the tech. "So you know we have a couple of job openings."

"I'm aware." She said miserably.

"So I was thinking," He continued, "You could help us identify JJ and Prentiss's replacements."

"And how do you think I can do that?" Garcia asked curiously.

Rossi snorted. "Penny, please don't be modest, there is nothing you can't do with a computer."

"Keep talking." She replied, liking what he was saying.

"So say you were to pull up the FBI database of agents. You could wheedle down agents who were interested in working with the BAU. You and I both know that's a pretty big wish list. From there we can weed out all the undesirables."

Garcia smirked. "I'm assuming by undesirables you are referring to the male gender."

"You'd be correct." Rossi said with a wink. "Then once we got that far we could really get down to business."

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

Rossi grabbed the chair that Morgan occupied earlier and pulled it close to Garcia. "I'm assuming that you can pull up agent specifics."

"Specifics?" She asked, puzzled. "You mean like linguist, sharpshooter, negotiator… "

"No." Rossi shook his head. "Why would I care about that? You know height, weight, age, hair color."

Reid caught on quickly. "I think a redhead would be a good addition, say around 28ish?"

Penelope's head snapped over to glare at Rossi. "What have you done to my sweet, innocent Dr. Reid?"

"What?" He flashed a devious smile. "Look at this as an opportunity. You could be our wing woman."

Garcia scoffed. "Really? Why does it feel like I'd be baiting unsuspecting women?"

Rossi grabbed his heart. "Penny, I'm wounded. Reid and I just want a shot at the same happiness that Hotch and Morgan found. If the situations were reversed don't tell me you wouldn't be doing everything you could to help Derek. In fact, weren't you trying to find Hotch a mate not that long ago?" He gave her his saddest face.

"Since when have you had _any_ trouble finding a woman?" She responded, not buying his act.

"It's not just for me, think of the boy." He pleaded, looking at Reid sympathetically.

"Or I could think of what would happen to the BAU if we brought in two new woman only to have them hook up with two other agents and how that would appear. We'd go from being considered an elite team to a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen."

Reid winced. "She makes a good point."

Rossi gave her a disgruntled look. "JJ was in here this morning wasn't she?"

Garcia ignored him. "So Reid, I have a friend, Amy, in my book club. She's got pink hair, which is a derivative of red, she's about 28. I could probably arrange a meet. She would probably be super excited by your ability to read so quickly."

"What about all the women that are going to throw themselves at you once JJ and Emily start their rumors?" Rossi whined, feeling his tentative grasp on Reid slipping.

Reid shrugged. "I already heard from Anderson that JJ and Hotch are an item. Someone saw them over the weekend with Jack and Henry. It's all over the place. It doesn't help that they're all gooey around each other. And Prentiss had Morgan pressed up against the men's room door about fifteen minutes ago. I'm not thinking anyone is going to buy any false rumor involving me." He grinned at Penelope. "So, you think Amy will like me?"

"I think she's going to love you." She smiled as he blushed and went out the door. She turned her attention back to Dave. "So, I understand that Strauss's divorce is final."

Rossi frowned at her. "What are you implying, Penny?"

"There is a bit of shared history." Garcia said slyly.

Rossi chortled. "As in been there, done that, bought the tee shirt."

"Really?" Garcia laughed. "I kind of always suspected more of a where there's smoke there's fire."

"We did burn kind of hot." Rossi smirked then scowled. "That's ancient history."

"Are you so sure about that?" She countered as she and Rossi engaged in a stare off.

"I liked you better when you were weepy." He grouched, stalking out of her office.

**Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for all the comments, favorites and follows. I really appreciate the support and interest!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Blue Dress Shirt Chapter Seven**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

Six Months later…

David Rossi couldn't help himself. He tried to stay away but he found himself drawn to her. He wondered if he'd always had a thing for prickly women. "So, rumor has it you're a free woman."

Erin Strauss looked up from her desk. "If you're referring to the fact that my divorce is final then, yes, I guess I am."

Rossi leaned against her door frame nonchalantly. "As luck would have it, I find myself free as well."

She lifted a sculpted brow. "Well, by all means, don't let me keep you."

"I want to take you out." He announced boldly.

She regarded him suspiciously. "Excuse me?"

Rossi shifted and stood. "Actually I don't want to take you out I want to take you home. To bed." He watched as she swallowed nervously and her hand betrayed a slight tremble.

"Agent Rossi, have you taken your Sensitivity training?"

"I'm not sure about that one but I am Kama Sutra certified." He enjoyed the blush that crawled up her cheeks.

She released a shaky sigh. "I'm not sure what kind of game you're playing."

"Ah, you remembered that I was fond of games." He gave her a heated look. "I'm touched. I seem to recall that you enjoyed them as well."

She bit her lip to prevent a smile. "I'm not sure what it is you're after."

"Really? I thought I was being fairly direct. You. Me. Bed." He stepped closer. "Hell who am I kidding? Couch. Desk. I want you, Erin."

The look she gave him was wary. "Why?"

"I want a woman that's my intellectual and sexual equal. I recall you being both."

She frowned. "You want laid and you figure as a divorcee I might be plumb for the picking."

He walked over and perched on the edge of her desk. "I do want laid, your marital status is irrelevant."

"Pardon me if I doubt your sincerity, this does seem rather sudden."

He smiled at her. "Fair enough, allow me to take you to dinner. To prove my sincerity." He waited as she studied him. "What do you have to lose?"

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"Are you sure you're doing that right? I don't think that goes there."

Morgan sighed, he had been at this for almost an hour, and she'd been directing him the entire time. "Do you think you could do it better?"

"I didn't say that." Emily argued. "Why don't we ask Hotch? He's done this before."

"I cannot believe that you just suggested that." Derek scoffed. "You know how good I am with my hands."

Emily smirked, "It's not your hands I'm questioning. It's your ability to follow directions. You seem to be having some difficulty getting the job done."

"It's kind of hard with you harping at me the entire time. Just relax and let it happen."

"I might be more relaxed if I had any confidence that you were doing it right." She winced as he jerked and swore. "Sorry, did I move against you?"

Morgan stood up. "Sweetheart, if you would please just sit down and let me do this, trust me, I'll get it together."

Emily sunk down on the bed. "It's kind of important for this not to fall apart."

"It's not going to fall apart, Emily." He sighed again as he looked at her studying the piece of furniture that he was struggling to put together. "You know what you should do? You should call Pen and JJ and get together and go shopping. There is probably tons of stuff we still need."

"Your mom told me I was not to buy another thing until she came to visit." She intended to heed her mother-in-law's demand. Not to mention they had a room filled with more things than any baby could ever need. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" She questioned suspiciously.

He looked over at her and grinned. "Yes. And never."

"Derek, how are we going to handle a baby if we can't even put together a crib?" She asked sadly.

One look at her sad face and he folded. "Would you like me to call Hotch?"

"No, they're busy. JJ and Henry were moving in this weekend." She pushed herself off the bed. "Maybe I'll go call Pen and see if she and Kyle want to go for a walk. That way you can work without me here nagging you."

Derek smiled, relieved that she was going to leave for a while. "You know I love when you nag me."

"Sure you do, which is why you're rushing me out of the room." She laughed.

"Baby, if I had to look at you sitting on that bed any longer my mind was not going to be on constructing a crib." He slid his arms around her middle.

Emily came to an abrupt stop and turned in his arms. "That wasn't one of the options you gave me earlier."

Derek grinned down at his wife of almost six months. "Should it have been?"

"Well the crib doesn't need put together _today_." She informed him, leading him back to the bedroom. "We are still honeymooners after all."

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Reid took a fortifying breath and pushed open the door to the local Barnes and Noble. He felt a little more confident about this set up. JJ had intervened after the last date Pen found for him turned out to be a stalker. Well, stalker was a strong word but when he returned from a case and found her ensconced in his apartment several warning bells had gone off. Today he was meeting an intern that worked in JJ's building.

JJ had been the one to suggest a book store knowing his love of books and wanting to put him in a location where he would feel comfortable. He arrived early on purpose and strolled through the aisles pulling books at random that appealed to him. His plan was to station himself in one of the plush chairs facing the door to wait for his date. However, his best intentions went awry when he became engrossed in one of the novels he selected.

"Dr. Reid?" A voice asked hesitantly.

"What?" Reid glanced up and noticed the slight redhead standing in front of him.

"You are Dr. Reid, correct?" When he continued to stare at her stupefied, she added. "My name is Caro. I work with JJ."

"I, uh, yes, yes, I'm Spence. That is Spencer Reid. Dr. Reid. Yes, that's me." He stood and the stack of books that he'd held on his lap scattered. "Oh, gosh, sorry."

She smiled at him. JJ had told her that he tended to lose himself in books and not to be surprised if she found him absorbed in one when she arrived at the store. She had neglected to tell her that he was so adorable. "I almost hated to interrupt you it looked like you were enjoying your book."

Reid blushed. "It's kind of a habit of mine. I tend to get lost in them." He stood and realized how tiny the redhead was, and that she had a smattering of freckles across her nose. "Would you like to get a coffee?"

"Sure, and you can tell me all about yourself." She held on to three of the books he'd dropped. "JJ tells me you work for the FBI?"

Spencer nodded. "I do, but you know, I don't think JJ told me nearly enough about you." He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her over to the café. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Caro? I'm sure you're a far more interesting topic."

His previous set ups through Garcia may not have been successful, but they had given him a little bit of experience so he might just manage to get through this date well enough to secure another. He smiled as the woman across from him launched into storytelling mode. He'd have to remember to send JJ a book as a thank you.

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Garcia had just sat down when her son let out a bloodcurdling squall. "I'm pretty sure that was a daddy cry." She told her spouse, decidedly needing a small break.

"Sounded like it." Kevin concurred and jumped up to find out what was bothering his son.

Her reprieve was relatively short when Kevin came into the family room holding the clearly unhappy infant. "Penny, honey, I can't make him stop."

Garcia looked up at her boys with a sigh. "Is he wet?"

"I just changed him." Kevin assured her.

"Is he hungry?"

"He doesn't seem to want to take his bottle."

"Did you check the temperature?"

"I don't know." Her husband whined, growing frustrated by his inability to soothe his son.

Garcia knew that unless she acted quickly she'd have two crying males on her hands. "Kevin, our son is not unlike a computer." She walked over and relieved him of his son. "Sometimes you just have to keep trying different things until you figure out what works." She was rewarded with a loud belch and a suddenly calm child. "See?"

It was an analogy that JJ helped her discover when she was frustrated right after Kyle's birth. "You're going to need to try a _little_ harder, Sweetums." She didn't like to be critical of the man but unless he started putting forth a lot more effort she was going to reboot _him_.

Kevin winced and held out his arms to take their son back. "I'm sorry, you're right. I just worry that everything I do is wrong. And he's so tiny." He looked at Garcia. "What if I break him?"

"Oh Loverbear if that happens you don't need to worry because no one will ever find you. Not even a trace." Garcia promised him.

"You say the most reassuring things, Gumdrop." He smiled as their son cooed at him.

"See, you don't have anything to worry about. Just relax." She sunk back down on couch, determined to shut her eyes for five minutes.

"You know," Kevin told her, "you're pretty awesome. You make this, just like everything else you do, seem easy."

"I'm not taking him back." Garcia mumbled eyes still closed.

Suddenly feeling far more confident Kevin smiled. "That's okay, I've got this. As long as I've got you I can handle just about anything."

"Isn't that the truth?" His sleepy wife responded.

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Hotch surveyed the mess in his living room with a happy smile. Sure there were boxes everywhere and with their hectic life it would probably take them months to go through them all. But that was okay because upstairs in his bedroom, in his bed, he'd find JJ. He turned the lights off as he worked his way up the stairs.

"Jeez, I thought you'd never get up here." JJ said when he finally entered the bedroom. "Hope you don't mind. My pajamas are still packed away somewhere." She made her way towards him wearing one of his tailored blue shirts.

"I absolutely do not mind." He told her as he gathered her into his arms. "Although, I have to admit I am a little upset that they look way better on you than they do me."

JJ pulled back to look at him. "Oh no, I adore you in blue. You always look unbelievably hot. Never doubt your hotness."

Chuckling Hotch pulled her close again. "Is that right?"

"The only thing hotter is when you take the shirt off." JJ informed him.

"Really?" He said as he walked her backwards to the bed. "I was thinking the exact same thing!"

She grinned as the back of her legs hit the bed. "Great minds think alike."

"Then you know exactly what's coming next." He gently pushed her on the bed and followed her down.

JJ laughed and fused her mouth to his kissing him hungrily. "You're lucky I lasted this long. Watching you lift and bend all day has been driving me nuts."

Hotch pulled up and looked at her. "So it wouldn't have been inappropriate to take you on the couch when we were unpacking the family room?"

JJ responded by pulling his tee shirt over his head. "Oh no, it would have been completely appropriate. Welcome even."

"I am really liking this living arrangement." He let her know as he unbuttoned his jeans.

JJ slid her hands alongside his hips to assist with the jean removal. "Oh honey, you're about to like it a lot more."

Hotch raised a brow as he kicked off the jeans and sent the sailing across the room. "Why is it that I'm naked and you are still wearing my shirt?"

"That was your rule." JJ reminded him as she rolled him onto his back. "I was allowed to wear it as long as you were here to take it off of me." She giggled as he pulled her on top of him. "Aren't you going to take it off?"

He groaned as she adjusted to him. "How about we just undo a few buttons? I like seeing you in my clothes."

JJ rolled her hips. "Yeah, I like seeing you in me."

"Good I plan to make it a common occurrence." He moaned as she sped up the rocking of her hips.

She returned an answering moan as his hands closed in on her breasts. "You know, if that happens we're likely to end up with that baby Garcia keeps asking about." She teased him.

His hands stilled her hips as something was telling him he needed to be fully lucid for this conversation. "Isn't that part of the plan?" He wanted to make certain it was what she wanted.

"The plan?" She asked with a twinkle. He'd been very adamant about letting her control the speed at which they moved. He didn't rush her into anything although she knew that he wanted her to live with him almost from the moment they became a couple. She adjusted her position so that she was lying on top of him fully. "Hotch?" She placed a lingering kiss on his mouth.

"Umm."

"Sweetheart?" Her lips traveled up his cheek to his earlobe. "You should know the plan is already in motion."

The End.

**Thanks for reading! Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows.**


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